The IDF suffered the loss of five soldiers on Thursday after a mortar fired from Gaza hit their position in the Eshkol Regional Council near the border with the Gaza Strip.

Families were notified and the incident was cleared for media publication early Friday morning bringing Israel's total military death toll in Operation Protective Edge to 61. The IDF says that 20 of the deaths occurred within the Gaza Strip due to mortar fire and terrorists who used smuggling tunnels to infiltrate behind enemy lines.